Morningstar
Chapter X: Shield of Confidence

Icarus leaves the meeting with the mentors. Morning. Quin, Demetrio, Signe, and Icarus were the closest to Phoenix in the moment that her fire sparked and that’s why they felt her. Morning was not closed, but Icarus knows that Morning can feel everything that is happening at Morningstar. Now, every mentor knows that there is someone unusual in here. They do not know that it was Phoenix, but once they replace out, they will kill her.

Icarus knows that Morning has asked everyone to keep an eye on him, Signe, Quin, and Demetrio. They were the ones to feel the magic, and Morning might suspect that one of them knows about it. Icarus tries to continue his day, trying to push any suspicion away from him.

“Icarus,” someone calls as he takes the steps down from Morning’s building. Icarus stops in his track and turns to face Morning. His hands are behind his back. “What did you feel?”

He had already said what he felt at the meeting. He kept the details vague. “It was a wave. I followed it once I felt it. It was gone in a few seconds.” He learnt from Night that the Times can feel whenever they are being lied to.

“And what kind do you think that it was?” Morning asks.

“I cannot say,” Icarus says. He is not lying. He cannot say it, or Phoenix will be in danger. He has been under interrogation many times. He can stand his ground against one of the Times.

“You have a great expertise in this area,” Morning says. “Guess.”

“I would say that it was active,” Icarus says. He has specialized on everything that it is considered supernatural. He has a wide knowledge of things like this and religion. Unfortunately, Morning knows this. It was one of the reasons why he chose Icarus to be part of the trials. “Passive’s waves are different. They are hard to feel. Active ones send a sudden wave and leave a faint smell for a few seconds.”

“Then what kind of active was it?” Morning asks.

Icarus stares at him. “Is there something that you want to tell me?” Icarus asks. He keeps his heartbeat steady.

Morning does not show anything in his expression. He does not show a twitch or a sign. “The Times do not like those creatures and we do not like whoever helps them.”

“If you are suggesting what I think that you are suggesting, come out and say it,” Icarus says.

Morning holds his ground, but Icarus is not going to back down either. “Stay in line and everything will work out.” He turns and climbs the steps once again back into his cathedral.

***

Ilya returns to Draconic 23 to replace that Icarus is already there. He is sitting on top of the desk again and has a green apple in his hands. She heard rumors about the mentors having a reunion with Morning. Ilya did not ask anyone if the rumors were true. She does not care any less.

“What happened in the woods?” Shin asks out loud.

“It does not concern you or anyone else,” Icarus says. “Your focus is on training for the trials.”

“Do you seriously believe that playing chess is training?” Killam asks.

“I know what I am doing, Killam,” Icarus says. “You need to trust me.”

“It is not easy,” Tilray says. Ilya expected her to say that it is impossible to trust him. “We have seen that you are strong, but you suck at training. We haven’t even learnt new moves.”

Icarus nods. “If you think so, then I am no one to change your mind.”

“But we have learnt something,” Slier says. “We have learnt to work together. I mean, the impossible happened. You and Phoenix worked together to get the flag. No one thought that that was going to be possible.”

“That was possible because you forced us to work together,” Tilray answers.

“And he forced you to be on the same team,” Slier says. She shrugs. “I do not care what you say. He’s doing more than what the simple eyes can see.”

“We have not even used our weapons, Slier,” Tilray says.

“Because I am sure that you have learnt everything that you needed to know about your weapons all through these years,” Icarus says. “Besides, I am no expert on weapons. There are other mentors that are, and unless there is a trial where everyone has to use different weapons, I do not think that they will have the upper hand.”

“Then which mentor do you think that has the upper hand?” Fey asks.

“Quin, for instance,” Icarus says. Ilya feels a little surprised. The previous time that someone mentioned Quin, it ended up badly. “She is a great strategist. She will surely replace the best strategy for every situation. Demetrio, in the other hand, is quite the builder. He can shape anyone into the image that they need to be.”

“What are you then?” Beta asks.

“I am nothing,” Icarus says. He stands up from the desk as he sets down his apple. “Well, I do not need to tell you what to do. Ilya, as promised, let’s go outside.”

Ilya follows him out of the room. She sees him grab a shield that is on the floor at the hallway and a sword that is next to it. She does not remember seeing that shield and sword before. They walk out of the building and head into the woods.

“Pull out your rapier,” he says as he stops. She pulls her sword from the belt. The rapier is a sword that is long and thinner than most swords.

“What do you–” but Icarus is already attacking with his sword. She rises her sword to parry it. He continues attacking, going into full offensive.

“Keep your back straight,” he says as she continues, trying to defend herself. She take steps back whenever he attacks. She straightens her back. “Use the weight of the opponent’s sword against him.”

“But this is a rapier,” Ilya says without stopping. “I cannot push back against a bigger sword!”

“That’s why I said to use the weight of the opponent’s sword,” Icarus says. He strikes harder. She blocks it but moves to the side. The swing continues and it gives her enough time to go to the offensive. Icarus rises his shield to block and steps back, lowering his weapons. “That was excellent. Again.”

He does not wait for her to be ready. He begins to slice his sword, this time faster than ever. She parries with her rapier as she searches for an opening, but she remembers how she turned around the fight last time. She blocks the attack and moves her blade closer to the handle of Icarus’s sword. She moves to the side, letting Icarus continue with his swing and she strikes.

“Perfect,” Icarus says as he evades it. He throws the shield at her and she catches it. “Use the shield.”

“But it does not go with my rapier,” she says. “My sword is meant to be fast, not strong.”

“But with the shield, you can forget about blocking with your sword,” Icarus says. “Besides, you can use the shield for attacking too.”

“How so?” Ilya says.

“Do you trust me?” he asks. She looks down, thinking of her friends. What would they do? Tilray, Shin, and Killam would hate her if she answers that she trusts him, but Norm wouldn’t. He would be glad that she is making a decision without the influence of others. She looks up.

“Yes.”

***

Wither is focusing on chess. He has left his sword at the back of the room, right next to Moneo’s staff. He is playing now against Lexan, his only friend. Icarus wanted them to switch partners whenever they can. He has been switching partners when someone asks him. Otherwise, he would remain with the same one.

“When I started playing chess, I tried to move the rook as my first move,” Lexan says as he grabs the rook. He is serious. “Bit of a rookie move there. Get it?” He laughs as he places his piece down. “Ah, I crack myself up.”

Wither laughs. “What a terrible joke.”

“But you laughed,” Lexan answers. “That’s enough for me to continue making jokes.”

Yenta died three days ago. It does not seem that long. Wither misses his quirkiness or his confidence. He misses how he made a decision and it was always the correct one. Still, he is glad that Lexan arrived in his life when he did. He needed someone to be his friend, and that someone was him.

“Why… Why didn’t you have friends before me?” Wither asks.

“Oh, are we friends? I haven’t even thought about that,” Lexan says. Then he adds, “It is a joke. I had friends, but I gave up on them a year ago. They were a bad influence, to say the least. Why do you ask?”

“Um, you are likable,” Wither says. “It is odd that a person like you would be alone. I would expect a person like you to have many friends or even a girlfriend.”

Lexan shrugs. His brown eyes look down at the chessboard as Wither moves his queen. “I don’t think about that stuff,” he says. “Friends and girlfriends arrive when you least expect.”

“Yenta used to be the opposite,” Wither says. This is the first time that he is talking to Lexan about him. He has never mentioned that name to him, but Lexan does not ask who he is when he mentions him. He must know. “He was in search of a girlfriend most of his life. He wanted someone to make him feel special. He had a crush on Fey, but of course, she never looked at him.”

“Fey is a little oblivious,” Lexan says. “I know of people who still have a crush on her, but she always goes for someone who is not paying attention to her. I am pretty sure that she has a crush on Icarus now.”

“W-What?” Wither asks.

“What?” Lexan asks as he looks up. “You can tell these kinds of things. They are pretty obvious. For example, Hakea has a crush on Phoenix. Xeon has one on Zanna. East and Tilray are exes. I am pretty sure that Agrion has a thing for Hakea, but I am not one hundred percent certain.”

“How can you tell these things?” Wither asks.

“You can tell by the way they look at them or talk,” Lexan says.

In that moment, Icarus enters the room after Ilya. She moves to the back to where Tilray is. Wither’s eyes go to Fey to test if what Lexan say is correct. She has a smile on her face. Her brown eyes are staring at Icarus as if he were a piece of cake waiting to be eaten.

Wither lowers his sight back to the board. Everyone has something. Lexan can easily know what’s happening with someone by looking at their body language. Zanna can play chess way better than he can. Beta, Moneo, Kobo, and Fey can hunt better than anyone. What does he have?

He shakes his head and stands up. “Could I be next?” he asks Icarus.

“No,” Icarus says. Wither loses the sudden confidence. “I need you in here. And I need you to be playing with Zanna.”

He wants to ask why, but instead, he sits back down. Lexan stands up and switches seats with Zanna. Zanna sits down elegantly without making a sound. As she begins to place the chess pieces on their place, she looks up at Wither.

“I am sure that he has a bigger plan for you,” she says. He looks at Zanna. “Let’s play for now.”

“Right,” Wither says and begins to reorder the pieces.

***

When Icarus told them that training was over, Phoenix made her way to the mentors’ dorms. She is standing against a tree a few yards away, watching the entrance of the dorms. She wants to know what happened at the forest. She wants to know how she created fire.

“I told you, Zee,” Rin’s voice is heard. Phoenix turns to replace Zanna and Rin standing next to her. “She said that she needed to do something important, and of course, this is it.”

Phoenix rolls her eyes. “Can’t you leave me alone for a minute?”

“Not when you are going to confront Icarus,” Rin says. “He kissed you, Phoenix, and until we do not know if you are fine with that, we won’t let you be alone with him.”

“It was just a stupid kiss, Rin,” Phoenix says. She continues staring at the entrance. “I won’t let him do it again.”

“You let him kiss you the first time,” Zanna says.

“You are not helping, Zanna,” Phoenix says. “I do not want to see him, but I want to know how I did that… thing.”

“We won’t stop you,” Rin says. “But we will go with you.”

“Oh, no,” Phoenix says. “No, no, no, no. I don’t need bodyguards. I can manage on my own.”

“Too bad that we are not leaving you a choice,” Rin says as she points at the door. “There he goes.”

Phoenix stares at them, but then gives in. She walks to the entrance, where Icarus has already gone through. She walks to the third floor, remembering where she went out from this morning. When she reaches Icarus’s room, the door opens.

Icarus’s eyes fall on each one of them before saying, “Come inside.”

“Ah, company, Icarus,” Demetrio says from behind them. He is leaning against the door’s frame. This time he has clothes, which Phoenix is glad of. “Would you mind sharing?”

“Yes,” Icarus answers. He looks back at Phoenix, Rin, and Zanna. “Get in.” They enter and Icarus closes the door, leaving Demetrio talking to himself. He turns to face them, but his eyes land on Phoenix. “What do you want?”

“You kissed my friend, pervert,” Rin says. Icarus’s gaze falls on her but returns to Phoenix.

“I would ask that you won’t tell anyone else about that,” he says, his voice feeling icier than his eyes. “I do not want anyone to think that I have preferences.”

Phoenix feels her fire rising. He can make her angry as easily as in two sentences. “You were the one who initiated the kiss; not me! You did have a preference.”

“No,” Icarus says. “If I had a preference over one of the members of my team, it wouldn’t be you.” She opens her mouth, but he adds, “We already had this conversation before. I won’t have it again and even less in front of your friends. What do you want?”

She closes her eyes, trying to calm herself. Was he always like this? Was he an asshole when he met her? She thinks of the fire. It came when she was mad at him. She has to calm down.

“I want to know about the fire that I created,” Phoenix says. She sees Icarus move faster than ever before. He stops in front of her.

“Listen to me and listen to me very closely,” he says. “You cannot tell anyone about this. You should have not said anything to anyone, not even your friends. This is something that no one can know.”

Phoenix feels the need to push him back, but she does not. She does not even take a step back. She never backs down from anyone, and this won’t be her first time. “Then explain what happened.”

He stares at her for a while before he backs down. “Fine,” he says as he walks away, giving her space. “You are one of a kind, Phoenix. You are special. Some people are born with a blessing from the saints.”

“Saint? You believe in that stuff?” Rin asks.

“It does not matter what I believe,” Icarus says. “Even if it is real or not, what Phoenix has is real.”

“And what is it?” Phoenix asks. “Is it magic?”

Icarus jumps towards her. He covers her mouth with his hand and takes a finger to his mask, telling Zanna and Rin to remain silent. “Kiss me again and replace out.” Phoenix’s eyebrows furrow, but he continues with the finger on his mask. What the hell is he talking about? After a while, he takes his hand away from her mouth.

“What the hell was that?” Phoenix yells.

“You cannot mention that word,” he says. “Morning can hear everything.”

“He is not in here,” Rin says.

Icarus sighs. He takes his hoodie off, revealing his black hair and scratches his head. “He is not human,” he says.

“What?” Zanna is the one to ask.

“He is not human,” Icarus repeat. “It should not be a surprised. He is powerful and Phoenix can create fire with her hands.” He returns his sight to Phoenix. “Morning and all of the other Times hunt down people like you, people with… blessings. The reunion with the mentors was to tell every mentor that there is someone special in Morningstar and that they should hunt that person down. When you mentioned that word, it sent a signal to Morning. That signal would made him spy on our conversation. That word is forbidden, Phoenix.”

Phoenix nods slowly. That is why he covered her mouth and said something else. He wanted Morning to think that she used the word “magic” to describe something, instead of the real reason. “In the forest, you managed to turn the fire off. How?”

Icarus places his hands behind his back. “Today, I told the team that I do not have any expertise like Demetrio and Quin. I lied. I have specialized on religion and supernatural elements. What I did to you in the forest is a trick that almost no one can do.

“That blessing runs in your veins, in your blood. When you released it as fire, it marks a place of ignition. I had to replace the location where it started to block it and stop from reacting. It is usually located on the arms or hands, but yours started from your heart.”

“What does it mean?” Zanna asks. “What does it mean that it started from her heart?”

Icarus takes a glance at Phoenix before returning to Zanna. “I do not know,” he says.

Phoenix knows that he is lying. If magic is his expertise, then he should know the answer to that basic question. She does not want him to answer anyway. She might not like the answer. “Why did you block my… thing?”

“Because it sends a signal to anyone to feel,” Icarus says. “It sends a smell also that lingers on the air. I knew that someone was going to feel it and hunt you down.”

“And kill me,” Phoenix says.

Icarus nods. “That is why you cannot do what you did again. You cannot create fire anymore. And you cannot tell anyone.” He looks at each one of them before his eyes land on Phoenix again. “There are people everywhere that wants you dead. You cannot trust anyone.”

“And yet, I am trusting you,” Phoenix says.

“I saved you,” he says. “But don’t trust me if you don’t want to.”

“Stop being so defensive!” Phoenix yells.

“I am not being defensive,” Icarus says. “I could not care less if you did trust me.”

Phoenix launches at him, but Rin is already pushing her back. “Calm down,” she says.

“Get out,” Phoenix tells Rin. “You too, Zanna. I need to speak with Icarus alone.”

“Is that a good idea?” Rin asks.

“Nothing is,” Zanna answers as she heads towards the door.

Phoenix hears the door close, leaving Icarus and her alone.